CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a temporary travellers site in Coseley are to be debated by Dudley councillors next month.

The plans have sparked anger among residents living close to the proposed  40 plot caravan park on Budden Road who claim the local authority has gone back on promises to find another location.

Two weeks ago, Labour councillors on the authority announced they were were ‘calling in’ the move to go ahead with the plans. 

Councillor Alan Finch, vice chair of Place Scrutiny Committee,  said he and fellow committee members wanted to review the decision.

He said: "Labour members are calling in this decision because Budden Road has already been considered, there was cross party agreement that it is unsuitable and other sites would be considered.”

Residents reacted angrily when council leader, Patrick Harley, announced earlier this month that the transit site would be built on the land – reversing an assurance last year that the council was looking for a new location. 

Announcing the plans will now be debated on February 5 and residents are invited to attend the discussions, Cllr Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said: “It is important that all decisions are open to proper scrutiny. Elected members of all parties will be able to have their say on this important decision.”

Planning approval for the Budden Road site was granted by the council in 2018 despite fierce opposition from residents and local councillors.

But the plans were shelved after Labour took control of the authority later that year and started a search for an alternative location.

The council has said the introduction of the temporary transit site will give it, in partnership with police, more legal powers to remove unauthorised encampments which target open spaces in the borough.

These include ordering travellers to use Budden Road or leave the borough within two hours.